Changing Boulogne

Sir, I found your article in the November issue on the Boulogne circuit most interesting.

The first L’Amble d’Automne, a weekend in France organised by the 750 Motor Club mainly for Austin Sevens, was held in 1987 and featured a lap of the Boulogne motor course. At that time we were able to drive the complete course unimpeded. This was repeated 10 years later, but by then La Capelle had been bypassed and a one-way system made it impossible to drive the right way round St Martin hairpin.

And this year even more of the course was impossible to negotiate thanks to a Route Barrée sign at the foot of Mont Lambert that diverted traffic through to La Capelle because of roadworks.

There’s little interest in the track locally, but on that first ‘Amble’ we were invited to Chez Memere Harle at Wirwignes by its owner, who claimed to be president of a group trying to revive racing on the track.

Ten years later he seemed to accept that his plan was unlikely to happen. A great shame.

As well as the one at Wirwignes, you are probably aware that there are two other monuments to drivers killed on the circuit. Both are on the north side of the N42, about three or four kilometres from St Martin. The first is to Paul Vandermet who was killed on August 8, 1920, and the other, less than a kilometre away, is to Henri Matthys who met his fate on August 30, 1925.

Ken Cooke. 750 Motor Club